8/20 Democracy Now! letter to Pacifica Board

TO: Pacifica National Board and Pacifica management 
FROM: Democracy Now! Staff 
DATE: 8/20/01 
RE: safety 

As you know, the Democracy Now! staff spent last week 
negotiating with Pacifica management over how our safety could be 
guaranteed.  The talks came after two attacks, one physical and 
one verbal.  

On Friday, August 10, WBAI Station Manager Utrice Leid 
physically assaulted Amy Goodman.  On Monday, August 13, the 
Operations Director Sidney Smith and morning show host Marjorie 
Moore began yelling at Amy as soon as she entered the station. 
They followed her to her office, and when Democracy Now! 
producer Brad Simpson closed the door after her, Smith used his 
master key to re-enter. They continued to yell at us as we tried to 
prepare for the morning¹s program, until the on-air host came out of 
master control to tell them to stop disturbing his broadcast. 

We left after our broadcast, believing we could no longer safely 
work at WBAI.  We waited for a response to our Friday e-mails to 
management about the first attack.  When no response came, we 
wrote our second letter laying out why we felt we had no recourse, 
but to find an alternative space from which to broadcast and 
produce Democracy Now! It was only then that management 
responded. 

For the next three days, the Democracy Now! staff negotiated in 
good faith, attempting to reach agreement with management on a 
minimum set of safety guarantees for our return.  We agreed not to 
comment publicly during the negotiations.  

Meanwhile, the situation at WBAI deteriorated.  On Thursday 
morning before Democracy Now!, the newly installed morning show 
staff used the time to encourage listeners to attack Amy and 
Democracy Now! As further evidence of the increasingly 
unprofessional and hostile workplace, when people voiced their 
support, the hosts either mocked them or cut short their calls with 
the sound of a flushing toilet.  

On Saturday, the verbal harassment reached a peak, when 
producer Clayton Riley said on the air: "When you talk about the 
enemy, you find the enemy, you isolate the enemy and you 
destroy the enemy.  These people have put themselves in the 
position of being the enemies. This conflict is not going to end, in 
my judgment and let me be clear about that, until the dissidents, 
until the so-called exile community is destroyed. Unequivocally." 

This echoes Station Manager Utrice Leid¹s own oft-repeated 
comments, some of which aired around the nation on NPR¹s 
Morning Edition of June 21st:  

"I need you stalwart soldiers out there. This is a call to arms. I told 
you, it¹s a war."  Leid said that some of those who she says were 
sabotaging the station are right here with us. 

These inflammatory comments are not just words.  Several months 
ago, Clayton physically moved in on WBAI reporter Robert Knight 
for coming to Amy¹s defense, shouting repeatedly  "Stop kissing 
the ass of that white bitch." Minutes later, he assaulted Knight in 
Utrice Leid¹s office, while she looked on.  

Riley has also threatened to pay a hitman $400 to break the legs of 
Democracy Now! engineer Anthony Sloan.  He has screamed 
obscenities at former Democracy Now! producer Terry Allen.  In 
each case,  we informed WBAI and Pacifica management of these 
incidents.  Management never responded. 

Furthermore, Clayton was not disciplined, but rewarded: Utrice Leid 
has since doubled the air-time of his weekly program. The hate-
filled, violent on and off-air harassment and intimidation only 
intensified after Leid¹s assault on Amy.  

While Pacifica management has offered to post a statement 
asserting that WBAI is a nonviolent workplace, they refused to 
prohibit the on-air personal attacks, which gives a green light for 
the kind of assault and harassment we experienced last week.  
They also have refused to give Amy a key to the station or even to 
her own office.  She is locked out until she hands over her home 
and cell phone numbers to the very person who assaulted her. 

We have an interim solution.  As we have communicated, we have 
a safe and even technically superior studio from which to 
broadcast. Democracy Now! will continue to work at Downtown 
Community Television until our safety at WBAI can be guaranteed 
in a meaningful way.  

This will:

 - preclude further intimidation, harassment and assault
 - de-escalate the situation 
 - provide us with a technically superior studio at no cost 
 - lessen Pacifica¹s liability 

It also answers Leid¹s demand.  On the air, she has said we will 
throw the unwanted tenants out.  Off the air, she has stormed into 
our office, insisting that we find an alternative studio. 

There is ample precedent for this arrangement.  At least three men 
broadcast from offsite studios daily for Pacifica and WBAI:  Gary 
Null (M-F, 12-1 pm), Armand DeMille (M-F, 1 to 2 pm), and 
Pacifica Network News correspondent Bob Hennelly (daily for PNN 
and weekly for WBAI).

For these men, broadcasting from an alternative site is a 
convenience.  For us, it has become a necessary safety 
precaution. 

We feel it is our responsibility to continue to provide Democracy 
Now! to the Pacifica stations and affiliates, as we have for nearly 
six years. Because WBAI is presently an unsafe workplace, last 
week we broadcast from DCTV.  

The programs were technically perfect, of higher broadcast quality 
than even WBAI provides.  But most importantly, we are safe. 

Until we feel our safety is guaranteed at WBAI, the incidents we 
described are adequately investigated and dealt with, and the on-air 
personal attacks stop, we see no other option but to continue to 
produce and broadcast Democracy Now! in this manner.  

Our safety is non-negotiable.  We hope you agree. 

Signed,


Amy Goodman, host of Democracy Now! 
Kris Abrams, producer of Democracy Now! 
Brad Simpson, producer of Democracy Now! 
Anthony Sloan, engineer of Democracy Now!  


Dru Jay    ||    http://www.dru.ca    ||    dru-4GNy1lrxftmrG/[email protected]